Minority Demands Sweeping Reforms @ Kwahu Forum

…but critics ask: why didn’t you act when you held power?

By Prince Ahenkorah

The Minority Caucus has delivered a fiery ultimatum to the Mahama government: depoliticise enterprise, fix credit, slash the tax stack, and start consulting businesses before making policies.
Hon. Jerry Ahmed Shaib, speaking for Minority Leader Afenyo‑Markin at the 2026 Kwahu Business Forum, listed five deadly ailments and seven urgent remedies. The theme: “Leaders Committing to Sustenance of Ghanaian Businesses.” The message: today’s leaders are failing.
But a growing number of Ghanaians are asking a different question: Where was this Minority when the NPP held the levers of power just 18 months ago?

THE MINORITY’S FIVE CRIPPLING DIAGNOSES
Shaib did not mince words. He accused the government of:
· POLITICISING ENTERPRISE: Tagging businesses along partisan lines, creating an uneven playing field that hands local markets to foreign competitors.
· CREDIT STRANGLATION: SMEs pay effective rates of 28–32% against a 10.70% benchmark. Collateral locks out the majority. Two‑year loans for ten‑year investments.
· TAX STACKING MADNESS: Import VAT, excise, NHIL, GETFund piled on the same transactions no cumulative assessment. Factories run below capacity because energy costs eat all profits.
· AI CUSTOMS NIGHTMARE: The Publican Trade Solution dumped on businesses without validation or appeals. Inflated assessments, zero recourse.
· CONSULTATION DEFICIT: Policies drafted in secret, announced, then business owners told “this is your consultation.” Formal submissions ignored.

Seven rescue pledges
The Minority promised to push for: pre‑legislative consultation, cumulative tax impact assessments, parliamentary scrutiny of AI customs, independent utility tariff review, ring‑fenced TVET, quarterly business‑parliament engagements, and SME financing reforms.
The verdict of history: Every single problem the Minority now blames on Mahama was created or worsened during the NPP’s own tenure. The consultation deficit? It was there. The tax stacking? They built it. The AI customs mess? They deployed it.
Political analysts are blunt. “The Minority is technically correct about what needs fixing,” said one Accra-based economist who declined to be named. “But their moral authority is zero. They had from 2021 to 2024 to table these seven reforms. They did not. Now they shout from opposition as if they just discovered poverty.”
Shaib did not address this contradiction in his speech. There was no acknowledgment that the NPP left the economy in freefall – inflation at 30%, cedi in crisis, debt distressed, and an IMF bailout as the only exit.
To be fair, the Mahama administration has halved inflation, stabilised the currency, and cut policy rates. That is real progress. But the Minority’s speech correctly identifies that the micro‑business environment remains hostile.
The question is: will Mahama act on these seven fixes? And will the Minority support him  or simply use the issues as political weapons?
For entrepreneurs struggling to keep their doors open, the political theatre at Kwahu is frustrating. They don’t care who gets the credit. They want:
· Credit they can actually access not 32% rates and impossible collateral.
· Utility costs that don’t kill profit margins not endless tariff hikes.
· A customs system that is fair and appealable not a black box.
· A government that listens before it legislates not after.
The New Republic’s take: The Minority’s seven commitments are good policy. But good policy delivered by hypocrites is still good policy. The Mahama government should implement them and the Minority should support implementation without playing politics. Ghanaian businesses have suffered enough from both sides.
The clock is ticking. Actions, not speeches, will save our enterprises.